ST GABRIELS SPECIAL SCHOOL
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : p*******l@s***b.ie
Mission Statement
Mission Statement & Ethos St. Gabriel’s Special School is dedicated to enabling each pupil to enhance and develop their unique abilities and talents in the areas of their social, physical, emotional, communication, thinking, spiritual and vocational development. St. Gabriel’s advocates for and protects the pupils’ right to the best quality of educational experience and appropriate supportive therapies for well-being, quality of life and holistic development. St. Gabriel’s ultimate aim is to enable our pupils to be as independent as possible in all aspects of their daily lives. Our strength lies in our commitment to the team approach. St. Gabriel’s school team includes the teachers, special needs assistants, multi-disciplinary team, ancillary staff and the Board of Management. We value each staff member’s contribution. Staff are facilitated to be flexible and open to new learning and recent developments in education and therapies. Our school ethos encourages learning in a happy, secure, safe and stimulating environment. Our approach incorporates professional open communication, respect, confidentiality, positive attitudes, enthusiasm and dedication with a child-centred focus. We actively promote co-operation with parents as partners in their child’s education.
About This Cause
St. Gabriel’s. St. Gabriel’s Special School, Murphy’s Farm, Curraheen Rd. in Bishopstown is a local special school which caters for pupils with severe to profound intellectual disability and very many of our pupils also have a diagnosis of autism. We are in a Department of Education & Skills school, under the Patronage of Bros. of Charity which now has 43 pupils enrolled aged from 4 – 18 yrs. Effectively the pupils here function at a mental age of 18 months – 2 years approx. Most of our pupils do not use speech to communicate, many have not mastered independent self care skills and they have no sense of their own safety and thus require very careful fulltime supervision. With the combination of this cognitive age and the presence of autism, typically when our pupils get frustrated and can’t otherwise communicate, they may resort to challenging behaviours. Furthermore, very many of our pupils have been diagnosed with medical conditions such as epilepsy. We have a fulltime nurse employed here, such is the level of medical and behavioural support needs. We are staffed by 8 teachers and 28 SNAs who are all very committed and enthusiastic and work hard here every day. In other words, our school is quite unique among Dept. of Education & Skills primary schools! We cater for very needy, vulnerable pupils who require 100% supervision, 100% of the time. Most of their parents cannot possibly support fundraising initiatives for their school as their lives with their children is intense and exhausting. About Our Funding. St. Gabriel’s main school budget which comes from the Department of Education is very “tight”. The calculation of the Capitation Grant which we receive from the Dept. of Ed. (with which we must “run” the school) is based on the number of pupils enrolled and our pupil enrolment is very small relative to our costs! Every year we have difficulty stretching the Grant to meet the basic requirements of paying for heating, ESB, telephone, insurance, maintenance of the school building and equipment, office/ hygiene /cleaning requisites etc. There is absolutely no money left for new equipment / initiatives / developments. Therefore, much of what we provide for the pupils has only been achievable because of the generosity of people like you/organisations like yours, who support us financially and in many other ways. How could you help us at St. Gabriel’s this year? • All tasks such as painting, upgrading our garden, improving the appearance of our playground etc. are all works which we have to pay for. If volunteers with some funding could provide some of these, it would take much pressure off us and enable us to maintain the environment we wish for our vulnerable pupils.